Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Uhtceare

Uhtceare often hits me just before dawn, particularly on the mornings I have to catch a flight, and I'm sure I'm not the only one...

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An Old English noun from the 10th century (according to The Little Book of Lost Words by Joe Gillard), uhtceare is defined as "lying awake in bed feeling anxious." Hoo-boy. I can relate. And I find it interesting that folks waaaay back in the 10th century suffered from the same condition as I do (although clearly their anxiety had nothing to do with possible traffic jams interfering with flight plans).

According to the BBC (which should know), when literally translated from the Old English, uhtceare means dawn-care. BBC adds that uhtceare is "similar to insomnia (though more time-specific) in that it is a name (or noun) given to the state of being sleepless."

What a very useful word! And if you're wondering how to pronounce it, simply click here to find out...

Sleep eludes me as daylight approaches
Image by Stephanie Ghesquier from Pixabay

Wednesday's Random Slang-o-rama: Where the rubber meets the road

 As I prepare to "take to the skies" to attend the Public Safety Writers Association conference in Las Vegas this coming weekend, I am musing slang that has a touch of travel about it. For instance, where the rubber meets the road sounds like a saying made for a journey. However...

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... as Word Histories notes, this phrase doesn't really have much to do with roads and wheels. Rather, it means "where the important facts or realities lie" or "where theory is put into practice." Word Histories dates the earliest appearance of this phrase to 1956 and adds

...With one exception, all the texts containing the earliest occurrences of the phrase that I have found indicate that it originated in the jargon of the advertising business—jargon in which let’s get down (to) where the rubber meets the road meant how much is it going to cost?. 

For more fascinating phrases that first popped up in the world of advertising (“gray flannelisms”), check out the post. 

Over at The Phrase Finder, there's a nifty little discussion about this phrase that eventually led me to this Firestone Tire commercial with a catchy little jingle/song that employs where the rubber meets the road in a very literal way.

And with that, I'd better get packing!

The well-dressed winter traveler (1879)

... Continuing the theme of "traveling to Leadville" (in a way, that's what we're doing here, as I count down the days to the release of Leaden Skies) , we'll turn now to the subject of "oh, what shall I wear" on that journey by stagecoach up to 10,500 feet in the Rocky Mountains in winter, 1879.

I promise you this: no Goretex is involved.

Here it is, survival fashion for that trip to Leadville, straight from a seasoned traveler (quoted from the Colorado Miner and appearing in the Denver Daily Tribune, February 4, 1879):

Wear a fur cap; carry a scarf that will fold around your head and neck with about six thicknesses; put on a thick flannel shirt and two more over that; one pair of drawers, and two more other that; let your vest, pants and coat be heavy, loose boots and a pair of overshoes may keep your feet warm; put a bottle of the best spirits in your pocket, for arctic emergencies, and then envelop yourself in a pair of California blankets as soon as you get on the coach.

Zounds! Sounds like the properly dressed fellow wears nearly all he owns, just to make the trip. And not a word said about the properly dressed lady. One can only imagine.

Now, here's an interesting thing: I wondered about these California blankets. Just previous to this quote, there's the line "... we advise everybody to go warmly clad, and to carry a pair of heavy blankets along..." Hence, "California blankets" must be very warm. But look up the term in a slang dictionary (I used the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang), and "California blankets" is hobo slang for "sheets of newspaper used for bedding or warmth" circa 1926. Apparently the term went from one extreme (really really toasty warm) to the other (barely adequate covering on a warm California night) in the almost 50 years between 1879 and 1926.

Next up ... more about the 1879 "Leadville craze."